Now Sgt. Moore is on a mission to bring those rules to Monroe County for pawn shops, stores that buy gold and jewelry and scrap yards.

He is gathering support to make it tougher for thieves to sell stolen goods. One of those new rules, if adopted, would force those businesses to take photo­graphs and fingerprints of the seller and of the property being sold.

Some business owners support the idea. They say that thieves try to sell them stolen property occa­sionally and it is an unfortunate part of the trade, albeit a small portion.

Bernie Ochs, owner of Carroll-Ochs Jewelers in Monroe, said he would welcome Sgt. Moore’s plan.

“I have no problem with that,” Mr. Ochs said. “ We’ll help the police any way we can.”

Sgt. Moore is proposing the county adopt an ordinance requiring exchange businesses to comply with the added rules, such as taking photographs of items and the person selling them along with fingerprints.

He believes that by incorporating a data-based computer program called Business Watch International ( BWI), it would be easier to recover stolen goods and catch the thieves without any additional cost to the investigating agencies. The information would be instantaneous, which is critical during investigations.

Under the current system, businesses that buy such items must fill out slips of paper that are stored at the Monroe County Sheriff ’s Office. While most businesses abide by the rules to submit those slips of paper within 48 hours of a purchase, others are more lax.

Besides, Sgt. Moore said, the information on those slips of paper often is not specific enough to offer clues as to what the pieces of jewelry actually look like. That, in turn, makes it difficult to track down the crooks.

But an actual photograph of the piece would be essential in recovering an item. Details of the seller would lead to more arrests, Sgt. Moore said. The BWI automated reporting system would offer that information and more to police officers tracking down crimes.

“ It’s awesome,” Sgt. Moore said. “It would be great for victims.”

But Brian Beneteau, coowner of Frenchie’s Fine Jewelry in Monroe, cautioned that a photograph does not always equate to a positive identification of jewelry.

Although he indicated that he would probably support such an ordinance, Mr. Beneteau said misidentification can still occur.

“ The biggest problem I see is that many rings are mass produced,” Mr. Beneteau said. “So it might appear to be the ring, but it might not be the same one.”

“But I’m all for it,” Mr. Beneteau added. “It may help in some instances. We will try to do whatever we can to help.”

Sgt. Moore said he has held informational meetings about the BWI Web site.

The cost is 20 cents a transaction, which is paid by the business owners; there is no cost to the individual or county.

Roughly 20 police agencies in Michigan use the system. David Fobar, a detective sergeant with the Southgate Police Department, said since his agency began using the system in November, he’s been able to solve six or seven burglaries or thefts.

Sgt. Moore said the next step is to pursue an ordinance. He plans to make a presentation soon to the Monroe County Board of Commissioners.

Jewelry shop owners like Mr. Beneteau and Mr. Ochs said the gold-buying business has slowed recently. They added that vast majority of customers legitimately and legally sell jewelry. But someone trying to sell stolen goods does happen once in a while and they would like to work with authorities to help victims.

“ I don’t ever want to buy anything stolen,” Mr. Beneteau said. “ Unfortunately it’s the nature of the beast. We’ll try to do whatever we can to have everyone get their stolen items back.”

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